In the spring of 2001, after many years of being employed as a teacher of the deaf, I handed in my resignation. Along with my husband, who had earlier retired from the Canadian Armed Forces, we joined the long list of permanent RVers who continue to grace our nation's highways and campsites. Actually, the transition was not quite as simple as that.

First, there were a few minor details to which we must attend, such as finding a safe and happy home for the many useless but cherished treasures we had accumulated over the years, including articles of clothing, dishes, furniture, ornaments, stamp and coin collections and books; more useful recreational items such as bicycles, skis, and a boat; and finally, a few larger items such as two vehicles and a three-story house.

After a few months of weekly open houses and garage sales, followed by numerous visits to local pawn and antique shops, the Heart and Stroke Foundation, and, as a last resort, a few dumpsters, all our extras had found a home. Then, realizing that we could actually "cram-a-lot" into our new 36 ft Keystone Sprinter 5th wheel (with a matching 350 dual-wheel Ford Diesel truck that we'd swapped for the above-mentioned items), we filled both to capacity with our more prized possessions such as old postcards, letters, photo albums, musical instruments, teaching and military certificates, souvenirs and gazillions of t-shirts. Now we were ready to pull a Willy Nelson and finally be "On The Road Again!"

I say "again" as we were not necessarily novices when it came to this type of lifestyle. Having progressed from a collapsible camper, to a 16 ft Citation Travel Trailer, to a Leisure Travel van conversion over the course of the years, we had holidayed in all of Canada's ten provinces, and territories; all of the US's fifty-two states, including Alaska and Hawaii; been as far south as Mexico, and been guests in fifteen European countries. Also, during my husband's military career we had lived in four of Canada's provinces, so our master plan was to retrace our footsteps, but this time round to stop a little longer than to just smell the roses by spending more quality time in the remaining provinces and territories. The idea seemed feasible for the holiday months between May and September when campsites (our new backyard) were opened, but we'd overlooked one of a few important issues, like where to stay during the winter months when most parks are closed; hence no backyard!

Of course, we could head south of the border, but we were not sure that we wanted to share our hard-earned monthly paycheque, aka Superannuation, with a country that a) had contributed nothing to it and b) was willing to accept it with open hands, but to reimburse us with only half of its worth! After visiting a local CAA, where I was provided with Campbooks on each province, (including information on everything you ever wanted to know about camping but were afraid to ask), I meticulously went through each, noting all the important features, with Open Year Round being one of the more important priorities.

It soon became clear that although a number were in fact opened year round, facilities, especially on the east coast, were limited, as were mild temperatures. Other than returning to friendly Manitoba, where we'd spent the past fifteen years, and where we were royally treated annually to winters of —40°C temperatures and roof-high snow banks, our only other logical choice seemed to be heading farther west, like maybe BC, but via Nova Scotia. We had been able to "cram a lot in" as far as our remaining possessions were concerned, but only by box-hopping from one end of our new "wheel estate" to the other, and after tipping the scales at twenty-two hundred pounds!

Obviously, we had more downsizing to do, so with a few more trips to the dumpster where we deposited, among other things, a sewing machine, my very first badly busted guitar, and tons of old LP's, followed by a side trip to Nova Scotia where we deposited a trunk in each of the basements of our respective families for safe keeping, we were on our way further west.

After a few minor incidents, like having a gas station attendant fill us up with gas rather than diesel in northern Ontario, (resulting in approximately a 24-hour delay as we awaited the arrival of someone to drain the tank; and after dropping our brand new 5th wheel on our brand new diesel truck, resulting in approximately a $5000 repair job), we finally awoke on October 16th in the parking lot of a Husky truck stop in Chilliwack BC, having made it across Canada with just one snowstorm, in Wawa Ontario.

With our CAA BC Campbook in hand (having placed the remaining books in storage for future use), it was now the hour of decision; at what campsite would we spend our first winter on the road? We had chosen Chilliwack because of its close proximity to the US border, which we'd assumed was synonymous with mild winters, but according to the Campbook, we had quite a large variety of sites from which to choose.

Using the old never-fail scientific "Eeny, Meeny, Miny Moe" technique, our choice fell to Orchard Trailer Park. The decision, even if we had used a more scientific approach, could not have been a better one. Located just at the edge of the city, which is presently undergoing revitalization, we were within walking distance of practically all the important amenities of life; grocery store, art center, theatre, church, bank, doctor's office, hospital, post office, Laundromat, you name it; we have only to use our vehicle to replenish the gas (I mean diesel!) that we use once a month for a ride around the beautiful countryside, and including an occasional trip to Vancouver, only about an hour's drive, to visit our son.

Unlike the surrounding parks, which empty very quickly of human beings during the winter, Orchard Park is also a mobile home park, so that regardless of the season, its permanent residents, and including its proprietors, Bud and Nancy Hatch, and their grandson, Tony, are always at your beck and call, and make your winter stopover just like being at home! The past travel season was spent doing BC; from north to south, and east to west, and we took in rodeos, folk festivals, barefoot water skiing, paragliding and wind surfing competitions, visits to volcanic and ranching areas – the list of possibilities is endless! Next travel season we plan to do Newfoundland, after a stop-over in Nova Scotia to spend some time with family and friends. By annually alternating a western with an eastern province/territory, we eventually hope to cover all of Canada, and who knows – we may just run into you along the way. In the event that we do, let's hope that's figuratively, not literally. Happy RVing!